Formation Flying SAR: Analysis of Imaging Performance by Array Theory

Abstract

This paper analyzes the process of image synthesis for a Formation Flying Synthetic Aperture Radar (FF-SAR), which is a multistatic Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) based on a cluster of receiving-only satellites flying in a close formation, in the framework of the array theory. Indeed, the imaging properties of different close receivers, when analyzed as isolated items, are very similar and form the so-called common array. Moreover, the relative positions among the receivers implicitly define a physical array, referred to as spatial diversity array. FF-SAR imaging can be verified as a result of the spatial diversity array weighting the common array. Hence, different approaches to beamforming can be applied to the spatial diversity array to provide the FF-SAR with distinctive capabilities, such as coherent resolution enhancement and high-resolution wideswath imaging. Simulation examples are discussed which confirm that array theory is a powerful tool to quickly and easily characterize FF-SAR imaging performance.

Distributed Real-Time Image Processing of Formation Flying SAR Based on Embedded GPUs

“…--/ 100%. performance performance to power ratio power consumption data size time power consumption = = (8) The results of different processing platforms are shown in Table Ⅳ. The 0.5GB of data was processed using the CS strip imaging algorithm taking 5.86 s on the Jetson Nano.…”

“…Formation flying synthetic aperture radar is a new operational mode used to achieve high-resolution wide-swipe SAR images [5]- [7]. FF-SAR is usually combined with a set of very compact, lightweight satellite platforms, which has a lower overall cost, is easier to replace faulty satellites, and is more adaptable to future fast and flexible launch missions [8]. The TanDEM-X mission and the CanX-4&5 formation mission Tao Yang is with the School of Aerospace Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an 710126, China (e-mail: taoyang@mail.xidian.edu.cn).…”

Laboratory Multistatic and Multipolar Sar CCD Investigation

“…Multistatic SAR can provide several advantages, such as providing improved cross range resolution [12,13], and Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) [14], although the specific geometries have a strong influence on these [15]. Polarimetric SAR CCD has also been shown to improve CCD images [2,16].…”